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For that perfect smile

Robin Shulman

Gum lifts are all the rage now

Once there was tooth capping, laser tooth-whitening and the porcelain veneer. But in the quest for dazzling smiles, Americans are now increasingly resorting to cosmetic surgery.

The operation is the gum lift, a procedure that whittles away at tissue or bone to make teeth appear more symmetrical and longer. The procedure, also known as crown lengthening, has long been used to treat gum disease, but in the past five years dentists have begun to offer it for aesthetic improvement. Most patients who undergo it also receive porcelain veneers.

"The public is beginning to understand that there is a lot more that can be done," said Marty Zase, president-elect of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He credits television programmes such as ABC's Extreme Makeover, which sometimes include periodontal reconstruction. Dr. Elisa Mello, a New York City dentist in practice with her husband Ramin Tabib, says she performs the procedure on about 20 patients a month. Five years ago she was performing that number of procedures in a full year. The cost is about $300 for each tooth or about $4,000 for a full arch of up to 16 teeth.

As well as the gum lift, there is its converse, the gum graft, to hide the roots of teeth that are overexposed. This is less common, said Dr. Mello. The more common use of the porcelain veneer, to improve the appearance of chipped, discoloured and misaligned teeth, has increased by 250 per cent in the past five years, according to the AACD. Simple tooth-whitening procedures have increased by more than 300 per cent.

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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